Wausau, Wisconsin (CNN/Money) - The Three Secretaries are on the road, singing the praises of the President's program to boost the economy. But a lot of what they are saying is hitting a sour note.
On this two-day tour of six towns and cities in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Treasury Secretary John Snow, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, and Commerce Secretary Don Evans are pushing three main points: tax cuts will double the economy's growth rate; retraining programs will get the long-term unemployed back to work; and free but "fair" trade will allow U.S. manufacturers to compete with the rest of the world -- even China.
But from workers to factory owners, a lot of folks aren't buying it.
Take Tim Posnanski, who works at the Harley Davidson Plant in Wisconsin where the road show kicked off Tuesday morning.
He's a machinery repairman who also sits on the negotiating board of the local branch of his union, the International Association of Machinists.
He has worked at Harley for 14 years and never suffered a layoff.
But he has friends who work in factories in the Milwaukee area who have lost their jobs and he's still worried.
"They're talking about years in the future, and I think we need help now," he said when I interviewed him on the Flip Side yesterday. "A lot of people are going to lose their jobs, and then what are they going to do? Are they going to go to a service industry job making $9 an hour, when, right now, they're making $25?
Tin ears
Tim was not the only skeptic. Several local factory owners didn't seem to be buying the party line.
Like the tool and die manufacturer: "How can tax refunds help the economy, when the money will be spent at stores importing their goods from China?"
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Mr. Snow's answer was telling. He gave the example of a family that uses their tax savings to go on vacation, boosting sales and maybe even jobs for motels and restaurants.
Great, except for one thing: these are "services jobs," not the high-paid manufacturing jobs the audience was worrying about.
Don Evans says the way to create jobs and level the playing field with China is to get more trade agreements that open overseas markets to U.S. products. But he doesn't seem to have an answer to the question, How can U.S. workers compete with Chinese counterparts who make a fraction of what they make?
Tough crowd
Bear in mind this was bound to be a tough audience. Times are tough, with 35 straight months of job losses for a total decline of 2.6 million jobs -- the equivalent of one in seven of all factory jobs in the country.
Wisconsin has suffered a big part of those losses, according to a small protest group that is shadowing the Three Secretaries and trying to strike a different chord with the media.
Larry Marx, co-head of Wisconsin Citizen Action, a group protesting the president's policy, points out that Wisconsin has lost nearly 70,000 manufacturing jobs since the economy peaked in 2000.
And he complained that the Three Secretaries' tour is not open to the public outside Culver's, a frozen custard chain of restaurants in the Midwest. "If they are so confident about the economy why not invite the public in?" he asks.
A small group of Bush supporters also gathered outside Culver's to meet the Three Secretaries and show their support for the economic plan.
"We came to support Bush," said Charlotte Rasmussen of Stanley, Wisconsin, a member of the state Republican party. "The economy is turning around, stocks are doing better. You know that, don't you?"
That may be the problem.
Says Posnanski, "If there are no jobs for people, they're going to go to the candidate that's going to supply jobs."
Kathleen Hays anchors The FlipSide, airing Monday to Friday on CNNfn. As part of CNN's Business News team, she is also a regular contributor to Lou Dobbs Moneyline.
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